King Sturge and Lambert Smith Hampton - Retail Letting - Nursling, Southampton

Date: 02 Oct 2008

Joint agents King Sturge and Lambert Smith Hampton have let 55,000ft² of warehouse and distribution space in the Aurora building at Nursling near Southampton on behalf of the landlord Universal Consolidated Group.

MW Mack, one of the largest suppliers of fresh produce to UK supermarkets and independent retailers, has taken 25,000ft² in Unit B on a 15 year lease at an annual rent of £150,000. The firm, which has been trading since 1874, has recently been expanding its operation supplying produce to the increasing number of large cruise ships using the port of Southampton.

The second letting is to a warehouse operator supplying food and catering services within the UK and around the world. The company has taken 29,000ft² of space within Aurora on a 15 year lease at £187,000 per annum.

Matthew Poplett, Industrial Agency Partner at King Sturge comments, "Both companies have chosen Aurora for its superb location. For MW Mack, Nursling is ideally placed for servicing Southampton City Centre and the Docks to supply the expanding cruise line business. The building also offered dock level loading doors which is unusual in warehouses of 25,000ft²."

Peter Williams, Chief Executive at Universal Consolidated Group says, "We were happy we could accommodate Mack Southampton's requirements within this facility. As landlords we try to work with our tenants' needs where possible and we are looking for other buildings to buy to offer similar opportunities to occupiers."

Lawrence Scott, Divisional Director of Mack Southampton adds, "Originally we were looking to relocate the whole of our Southampton operation to one site as we currently operate from 7 warehouse locations in and around the city centre. The Aurora site was easily the best building on the market although the whole building was too large. However, the flexibility shown by Universal Consolidated Group enabled us to relocate our ship-stores business here and we will be fully operational for this growing part of our business by November, once our extensive re-fit has been completed."

Nursling Industrial Estate